A 22-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly murdering his 21-year-old school friend in Andheri (east) in a sudden fit of rage because the latter abused the former’s mother after the duo got drunk. Incidentally, the accused had given the victim a treat after getting his month’s salary.
The deceased Rahul Gaikwad, 21, and the accused Sushant Ghotkar, 22, were school friends. Gaikwad was unemployed while Ghotkar had a housekeeping job.
On February 11, Gaikwad and Ghotkar decided to have a party as Ghotkar had received his salary. The duo got drunk at three places in Andheri and later got into an argument while walking on the Marol Maroshi road when Gaikwad abused Ghotkar’s mother and in a fit of rage, the latter assaulted him with a paver block. On seeing Gaikwad bleeding from his head, Ghotkar panicked and fled from the spot.
The police control room received a call from an alert citizen about a man lying unconscious with head injuries after which a police van was sent to the spot and Gaikwad was rushed to Cooper hospital. On February 12, Gaikwad succumbed to his head injury.
With the help of his phone police identified him as a resident of Adarsh Nagar in Marol. An FIR for murder was registered based on his brother’s complaint.
“Based on technical analysis we learnt that the victim had last met the accused. On further probe we ascertained his role and arrested him,” said inspector Sanjay Gaikwad.